Reflection on Putman and Kingsley

In reading Putman and Kingsley's work, I was easily able to connect what I was reading to the new literacies project we did.  The article was focused on how the current generation of students are learning in the classroom and how they are benefitting from 21st century technology.  The article started off by explaining a fun way to engage students in learning about science through song.  It gave an example and a way in which is impresionable on students.  The article then went on to talk about podcasts and how they are helping develop students' vocabulary.  When I first read this I thought it was strange to connect students' vocabulary competence to listening to podcasts.  It was shown that by researching students who listened to podcasts, there was a correlation to their understanding of more science vocabulary.  Students reported that listening to the podcasts motivated them to find out more about the vocabulary words being stated.  Listening to podcasts is a way for students to interact with what they are listening to by being able to control what they are listening to.  For instance, if a student is struggling to understand a certain concept, they can rewind the podcast and go back and listen to a certain portion over and over again.  Hearing these things more than once will aid students in comprehending the material.  Students today are very drawn to learning in interactive ways because this is accesible to them in and outside of the classroom in most cases.  Even though podcasts may not be as exciting as interactive online games, they still allow for students to take control in their learning.  It is important in this day in age to keep students engaged in what they are learning, so in order to do so we need to make learning fun to the best of our ability as teachers.  I originally thought that by introducing students to certain technologies, such as podcasts or games would hinder their learning, but studies show otherwise.  It is nice to see that students are able to learn while also doing something that they enjoy.  The students are getting the best of both worlds.

Understanding Literacy

When I first heard we would be doing this project, I was not sure what "new literacies" were.  I knew what literacies were, but I did not know how many different types of new literacies were present and how important each of them are in the development of literacy. Students today are surrounded by technology inside and outside of the classroom.  Depending on the resources students have available to them, most spend a considerable amount of time a week around technology.  Some of these exposures to technologies can be negative, but it is important for teachers to make sure that exposures to technology are done in a constructive manner which allows them to learn to the best of their ability.

There are positive atributes of using technology in the classroom.  Allowing students to explore and interact in their own way promotes their creativity.  When students are engaging in a way that they enjoy, they will be able to learn the material better and stay interested in what they are learning.  My group initially wanted to do MuseumBox for our New Literacies project.  Unfortunately the website was changed to only cater to members.  We then decided to create a Popplet for cultural literacy.  The popplet enabled us to make cultural literacy more exciting and interactive.  When beginning to explore the popplet, it looks like a web and it connects ideas.  We included bullet points, videos, and pictures to make the presentation more attention grabbing.  Our goal was to make it look very user friendly and to make it very easy to navigate around the web and learn about new material.

If technology is present in the classroom and is not engaging and does not target the correct learning goal, it can be useless.  With the current generation, it is important that we are able to best support students in learning how to use technology efficiently.  It is also important to encourage the use of technology in bettering one's skills.  There are many different technologies present that can engage students' minds better than something written on the board or lectured to them, may be able to do.  Technologies can empower young minds in the best way to better their learning.  

NLP Final Post

When looking back at the definition of literacy I posted on February 11^th, I can clearly see how Cultural Literacy fits in.  A part of my first definition stated, “Literacy has always been a collection of cultural and communicative practices shared among members of particular groups.  As society and technology change, so does literacy”.  I remember when I first found that definition how much I liked the second sentence.  And after exploring my classmate’s projects and learning about Cultural Literacy myself, I have come to love the definition even more.  I truly believe that literacy changes with time, and it is our job as future educators, to keep up with it! Like I stated previously, I did not know a tool like Popplet existed before searching for technologies to use for this project.  If I wanted my students to create a concept map or web, I would have asked them to stay seated at their desks, pull out a piece of paper and pencil, and create a web by hand.  Now, I have found a resource to accomplish the same goals, but in a much more engaging and I believe, effective way.  Since times are changing, it is very important that we change as well in order to teach our students in a way that they can relate to, have fun with, and learn a lot from. 

From this project, I have not only learned more about different technologies, but a lot about different literacies as well.  When we first started talking about the project, I was wondering what a “new literacy” meant.  I had a preconceived definition of literacy in my head, and did not think it could be much more than reading and writing.  However, I have learned so much.  I had no idea how many different kinds of literacies there are, and how important they all are to bring into the classroom.  From exploring Cultural Literacy deeply, I have learned how important it is to be culturally literate and how to incorporate cultural literacy into my classroom.

To provide “effective literacy instruction” means to give your students many choices.  As teachers, we need to give our students opportunities to learn in numerous ways, some in which we may be unfamiliar with.  Our students are growing up in the age of technology, where they are constantly surrounded with educational TV shows, interactive websites, hands-on items such as iPads and iPods, social media websites and YouTube.  Because our students spend a great deal of time with these technologies outside of the class, I do not see why we should not bring them into the classroom.  Also, every student is different, and therefore a different learner.  I can speak from a personal example that technology is a very effective way to learn.  My brother has always been a very tech-savvy person, if you have any questions about anything concerning any technology, he will have the answer.  He struggled in elementary school because he was not given the opportunity to be hands on, or engaged in a way that suited his learning style.  In order to meet the needs of diverse learners, technological learners cannot be forgotten. 

As a teacher, you will constantly be learning, and I think it is important to remember that students can be teachers too.  Since technology is constantly changing, teachers need to be open-minded and not glued to traditional pen and paper activities.  Using Popplet for this project has made me realize how easy it is to incorporate technology into an assignment, and it made me excited to search for more tools that I can use in the future.  It is our responsibility to provide our students with different choices, such as different technologies and literacies.  Students need to not only know about what is available to them on the web, but how to use these resources effectively.  Teachers need to show students how to use the technology they want their students to use, before just telling students to “create a website” or “post on a blog”.  Although many students may be familiar with different technologies, some may not be, which is another reason to give them the chance in that classroom!  I am excited to take what I have learned from both new literacies and technologies and use that information in my future classroom.

New Literacies Project

The technology my group first decided to use was Museum Box.  However, after realizing that Museum Box has newly become a tool that you have to pay for, we chose to make our New Literacies project on Popplet.  

Popplet is a great source for visual learners.  Popplet allows you to create an interactive graphic organizer, by adding text, pictures, and links in different bubbles or "popplets".  I really like that is it appealing to the eye in the fact that you can view the Popplet as a whole, or chose to zoom in if you desire.  Popplet is very user-friendly, and easy to navigate.  Popplet looks very clean, and simple to the eye, which is good for students or teachers that become overwhelmed when there are many different things going on on a single website.  Popplet is also very organized in the fact that you can color-code each bubble as you build your web.

Before exploring Popplet, the only graphic organizers I knew of were webs or concept maps drawn on paper, so I was excited when my group found this resource.  I think it is very important for teachers to implement technology into the classroom, and I think that Popplet is something easy that teachers can start with. 

The new literacy my group has chose is Cultural Literacy.  I am learning that cultural literacy is a very broad concept and that it encompasses many topics.  My group has learned that J.D. Hirsch is the man who coined the term “cultural literacy” and has written a book that is quoted by many when explain the definition of cultural literacy.  My group will be providing the definition of cultural literacy, J.D. Hirsch’s book, videos, books, and quizzes to test if you are culturally literate or not on our Popplet!

New Literacies Final Blog Post

Since this class started, I have learned so much about literacy.  I always just assumed that literacy was literacy but I've learned that there are so many different types of literacy and all of them are so important to incorporate into the classroom!  When I first started this project, I really did not know what a New Literacy was, and when trying to create my own definition, I had to search online for some help in defining the term.  Once I began to explore the different types of new literacies I was so interested!  Getting to learn about one specific new literacy and about one specific new technology really got me thinking about all of the different and interesting things my future students could be doing using literacy and technology in the classroom.  I've always known that literacy is important, but what I did not know until this project was just how many different directions I can take literacy.  Times are changing and my students will be 21st century learners which means they are living in a world where using technology is their main way of learning and gaining new information, I need to respect that as their teacher and give them opportunities to learn using technology. I choose to use a Weebly for my group project, which I know I will use in my classroom and I could even have my students use to make websites for their classmates on a book they have read or on a culture they were studying.  I also was able to see different technologies in action while looking at the rest of my classmate's projects, it was so interesting to see just how many different technologies can be used to teach students literacy.  My traditional idea of literacy was always just reading a book, maybe writing a paper or a report on the book, and possibly having a group discussion with the class on that book, the themes, so on.  While using technology, and different literacies, a teacher like me could do themes (like a week on cultural literacy, a week on social literacy, etc) and instead of just writing about these books, my students could do things like make a weebly or create an iMovie about what they just read.  I feel like using technology makes learning so much more fun for students today and using new literacies also makes the lessons more interesting.


I think to provide effective literacy instruction to diverse learners means that first, teachers need to have a knowledge of their students.  This includes understanding how their students learn, their backgrounds and home lives, what interests them in the classroom and in literacy, etc.  I think it is so important to keep your students engaged, so much literacy instruction can be boring to students so through this project we have been able to see different ways to keep students engaged while they are still learning a lot about literacy.  Researching cultural literacy, while creating a weebly really helped me generate ideas about incorporating technology into a classroom where I would be teaching cultural literacy.  I think cultural literacy is so intesting and there are so many different things you can do while reading about other people's cultures.  I think in order for my students to fully be able to understand cultural litearcy, my classroom would have to do a number of activities and read a number of books and such so that they fully understood other cultures and how they were both different from ours but also the same.  I think I would have a big responsibility, and I as their teacher have the most responsibility and could really make or break the lesson!  I need to be providing my students with the right materials and also provide them with the ability to understand what cultural literacy is as a whole, not just coming away knowing different foods for different countries.  I think for students to understand technology, they just have to have it explained to them.  Our students live in a world where technology is king, so they understand technology and are able to pick up on it quickly once it is explained to them and they are able to see an example.  When I have my own classroom, I want to expose my students to as many different types of technology that I can so that they are able to pick what they like to use and what they enjoy to use! Once again, it is my responsibility to make sure they have been exposed to digital literacy so that they have a really great understanding! I realized that literacy is so different than I thought it was, it includes so many different aspects that are so interesting and great to incorporate into the classroom! I can't wait to be able to use what I've learned from this project in my own classroom!            

New Literacies

It is very imperative that teachers are skilled and up to date with the new literacies in this day in age.  Technology is changing so frequently that it is important that we are teaching our students in a method in which they can relate with.  For instance, there are many new technological advances that are present when learning, such as different programs on the internet; this is something that many students may have access to and can use at home.  We are living in a very digital world currently, and it is something that students are now very used to interacting with.  A lot of lessons can be much more effectively taught when there is technology involved.  Technology allows for students to be able to interact with material, and usually have the option to do so at their own pace.

In researching museum box for my new literacies project, I am able to experience how hands-on the program allows for students to be.  With museum box, information is presented to students, but not in a boring and mundane way.  Museum box allows students to interact with the text in any way and any order they wish.  The students are still working with important text, but it is displayed in a way in which is very student friendly.  When it comes to creating a museum box, students are able to use their creativity to present text in an interactive way which will catch their audiences' attention.

As time goes on our technology will continue to get more advanced, but this will only help us to teach material in the most up-to-date ways.  Students will be able to connect to material much more readily if lessons are able to reflect new technology.